Vice President Kamala Harris clashed with CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday night following President Biden's widely criticized debate performance, growing increasingly frustrated as she pointed out the Democratic Party's concerns with its standard-bearer.
Cooper told Harris that even “some within his own party” thought Biden should potentially give up seeking the presidency, after a faltering and hoarse performance that alarmed the liberal media and Democratic allies.
“What we saw tonight is that the president drew a very clear contrast to Donald Trump on all the issues that matter to the American people,” Harris said. “Yes, there was a slow start, but it was a strong finish.”
As Harris defended Biden as strong on “policies and performance,” Cooper interrupted to say it was very disappointing to his supporters.
Vice President Kamala Harris on CNN on June 27, 2024.
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“Democratic lawmakers watching the debate were concerned about the performance. One said it was a disaster and another called it a train wreck. Those are Democrats especially concerned that Biden failed to respond to Trump's lies,” Cooper said.
“People can debate issues of style, but ultimately this election and who is president of the United States has to be an issue of substance,” Harris said, blasting Trump as a liar and shouting out his responses on Jan. 6, accepting the election results and abortion.
When Harris lashed out at Trump, Cooper interrupted her again, saying, “That may all be true, but the president of the United States couldn't make that case to Donald Trump about the state tonight.”
“You debated then-Vice President Biden four years ago, and he was a very different person on stage four years ago when you debated him. That's certainly true, isn't it?” -Cooper asked.
“I understand that there's an hour-and-a-half debate going on tonight,” Harris said. “I'm talking about three-and-a-half years of work that has been historic.”
Former President Donald Trump was widely seen as the winner of Thursday's first presidential debate. (Fake Images)
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Cooper continued speaking as Harris asked if that man on the debate stage was who she saw every day.
“I'm not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I've been watching the last three and a half years of acting,” he snapped.
Cooper continued to press, saying this was the type of debate and rules the campaign wanted.
“Can you say you're not at all concerned about the president's performance tonight?” Cooper asked.
“It was a slow start, I'm not going to debate that,” Harris admitted. “I'm talking about the November election. I'm talking about one of the most important elections of our collective lifetime, and do we want to see what November brings and go down a path for America that is about the destruction of democracy.”
He went on to say that there was “a lot at stake” in this election and, as he said in other interviews, Biden had the backing of his vice president (Mike Pence, famously, is not supporting former President Trump in 2024).
Vice President Kamala Harris. (Screenshot/ABC)
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Cooper noted that none of the candidates had presented the race as “coherently” as she did. Harris tersely switched to Cooper at the end of one of the most contentious media interviews he has had in her career.
A CNN snap poll found that 67 percent of debate viewers thought Trump had won, while only 33 percent thought Biden had.
